Dell's entry into the tablet market was made official Tuesday with the Streak, previously shown at CES 2010 as a concept, now set to take on Apple's iPad in the U.K. in early June, and in the U.S. later this summer.

The 5-inch touchscreen device, formerly known as the Mini 5, was formally announced by Dell on the company's official blog. The 3G-enabled smartphone and tablet will be exclusive to the O2 network in the U.K. and will go on sale June 4. The tablet device is about half the size of Apple's 9.7-inch iPad.

"I've been at Dell for 16 years, and I don't think there's ever been more buzz around a single Dell product than this," wrote Lionel Menchaca, chief blogger for the Round Rock, Tex., company. "In my view, that's for good reason. Hardware and design-wise, this thing impresses. Add the ever-increasing capability that Android brings to the equation, and you've got a mobile device that offers a ton of flexibility while looking cool in the process."

Over-the-air upgrades will bring the latest software to the platform, including Adobe Flash 10.1 and Android 2.2 "later this year," he wrote.

The device has a capacitive multitouch display with a 800x480 pixel resolution display, powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon ARM-based processor from Qualcomm. It also sports a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash, VGA front-facing camera for video chat functionality "down the road," removable battery, 3.5mm headphone jack, integrated 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and a Micro SD slot offering up to 32GB.

The Dell Streak runs a customized version of Google's Android mobile operating system, allowing multitouch gestures and adding "Dell user interface enhancements." It also has access to the nearly 40,000 applications on the Android Marketplace, Microsoft Exchange connectivity, turn-by-turn navigation with Google Maps, and support for Google Voice.

Dell first showed off the device, akin to a large iPod touch, at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The slate-style device was briefly flashed by executives from Dell, as many companies introduced their own tablets before Apple's official unveiling of the iPad.

No U.S. carriers or partners have been announced, nor has Dell revealed any pricing on data plans or hardware. Menchaca simply noted that further information is forthcoming.

In a video showing off the hardware, Kevin Andrew, a member of the Dell Streak development team, said that the device could be used for consuming content on the go, including e-books, music and movies. Andrew said he's also used it as his primary phone while testing the device.

"For me, this is a fantastic device because it combines the capability of the Android platform with a great industrial design and form factor that can go with me wherever I want," he said.

As companies look to compete with Apple in the tablet space, many have turned to mobile operating systems like Android instead of traditional operating systems like Windows 7. Most recently, it was rumored that HP scrapped Windows for its forthcoming Slate PC that was shown off at CES with Microsoft. The company's $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm is expected to pave the way for devices powered by WebOS, the mobile touchscreen operating system Palm created for its Pre smartphone.

is the iPad even a phone ?
Come on, we know almost everyone here is a fanboy that needs to compared everything to the iDevices but the Dell Streak is a "phone". Should we compare the iPad to the next 4.3in Android device or the HTC EVO or the HD2?

Kevin Andrew really just parrots Steve Jobs at the beginning of the interview when he talks about what consumers want. He also takes a long time to answer the first question about what he uses the device for, meandering to talk about Android and the device design. He seems to have his own agenda on what he needs to say, and is anxious to make sure he gets it out there. Things get better when he starts the demo, but he tries to make some things sound great when really they work just as you'd hope they would (when I click on a Facebook contact's name, should I be surprised when it jumps to their info?).

Overall, I think this is one of those devices you really just need to see yourself to pass judgement on.

LOL I don't mind the Bluetooth headset or using a 3.5mm headphone/mic jack combo found in smartphone phones but adding an speaker and mic for using it as phone is pretty lame. It's only slightly better than the "sidetalking" N-Gage.

is the iPad even a phone ?
Come on, we know almost everyone here is a fanboy that needs to compared everything to the iDevices but the Dell Streak is a "phone". Should we compare the iPad to the next 4.3in Android device or the HTC EVO or the HD2?

Yeah, we know it's a phone. A really BIG phone - a repurposed Dell Mini. But they are positioning it against the iPad (did you read the article, sunshine?) so the comparisons are already established by the article. But yes, yes indeed it is a very big phone. Your Android fanboy status is peeking out just a titch. We know why you're here. Relax. It's OK. They'll un-ban you over at the Android forums once you get it out of your system. Take a deep breath. Repeat after me: "there's no place like home, there's no place like home..."

is the iPad even a phone ?
Come on, we know almost everyone here is a fanboy that needs to compared everything to the iDevices but the Dell Streak is a "phone". Should we compare the iPad to the next 4.3in Android device or the HTC EVO or the HD2?

Yeah, they're just comparing it against the iPad because it generates press. Really it's just another (really big) Android phone, and will compete against other phones, not the iPad or even iPod Touch. Will people be willing to carry around a really big phone to have a bigger screen on it? I don't see the market niche for it, personally, but who knows. Maybe they can get some exclusive games for their screen resolution or something.

It's amazing how PC companies constantly misjudge the market. It starts with a basic question. What purpose does this product serve? It's a slightly bigger screen than an iPhone or other Android phone. I can see a market for maybe a 7-8 inch device. Something a little smaller than an iPad. I guarantee that the original design was for a bigger screen but they couldn't hit the price point they wanted to hit so they made the screen smaller. It makes absolutely no sense from a design perspective. No one would use this as there primary smart phone. So if you have to carry around a second device, why not make it bigger. They should have called it the iPaperweight...

Yeah, they're just comparing it against the iPad because it generates press. Really it's just another (really big) Android phone, and will compete against other phones, not the iPad or even iPod Touch. Will people be willing to carry around a really big phone to have a bigger screen on it? I don't see the market niche for it, personally, but who knows. Maybe they can get some exclusive games for their screen resolution or something.

It's obviously targeted at Apple haters. They can tote it around and try to convince people that it's better than an iPad. Who needs all that screen space? Plus, it's perfect for when you have a big call to make.

It's obviously targeted at Apple haters. They can tote it around and try to convince people that it's better than an iPad. Who needs all that screen space? Plus, it's perfect for when you have a big call to make.

Agreed about the size. I'm waiting on the next iPhone so I can stop carrying even a digital camera. Now Dell wants me to have two phones in my pockets. I'm hoping to get rid of keys and wallet someday, not add more stuff to carry.

I am thrilled to see so many of these types of devices coming on the market that ARE NOT RUNNING WINDOWS. This is the first time in years that there is a significant choice between operating systems other than OS X and Windows. This is the fastest way to push open formats like HTML5. I don't ever want to see a single OS dominate the cell market or the desktop market. Keeping healthy competition in this day and age will help force open formats, which will then mean it doesn't matter which OS you are running on.

It's NOT an iPad. Someone in Marketing got a bonus for for calling an obvious smart phone a "pad". Nice try Dell - you'll get headlines, like this one, but you're not really fooling anyone but yourselves.

There's really good news for Apple here. First, it just doesn't compete against the iPad. So the branding that tries to do so will inevitably make the iPad look good.

Second, as a phone it doesn't present a real compelling reason to go to what amounts to a slightly larger form factor. So when the inevitable comparisons against the newest iPhone begin, it's once again inevitable that it'll make the iPhone look good.

Third, it can't compete against the iPod Touch on price points, unless they want to give it away.

Fourth, we won't even TALK about the stuff you can run on the iPlatform vs the competition. 'Nuff said.

Apple needs to send some flowers and a nice "thank you" card to Dell for this gift....

This new Streak device drom Dell seems sweet, I'd love a bit of a larger screen in my iphone and the streak has flash support. I am not pro flash yet today I was trying to check rates and reservations, couldn't do it on my 3GS. Can't wait to try the Dell Streak, I hope the user interface matches the iPhone's.

There's really good news for Apple here. First, it just doesn't compete against the iPad. So the branding that tries to do so will inevitably make the iPad look good.

Second, as a phone it doesn't present a real compelling reason to go to what amounts to a slightly larger form factor. So when the inevitable comparisons against the newest iPhone begin, it's once again inevitable that it'll make the iPhone look good.

Third, it can't compete against the iPod Touch on price points, unless they want to give it away.

Fourth, we won't even TALK about the stuff you can run on the iPlatform vs the competition. 'Nuff said.

Apple needs to send some flowers and a nice "thank you" card to Dell for this gift....

I think what really cracks me up is that the product was announced on a blog!
Newsworthy enough? Not really - no press conference - no big developer's conference to show it off - Nada! - except a blog by the "chief blogger"...

Let's see:

Apprentice Blogger
Blogger
Chief Blogger

What's next?

Master Blogger

of course!

I commented somewhere that here in Oz (Australia) there are Apple Stores and Dell Kiosks... in the malls...